A win by an ‘extremist candidate’ in Romania’s upcoming presidential election will roll back all the progress the country has made since communism ended, Donald Trump’s
former ambassador to Romania said Thursday.
Adrian Zuckerman, who served as Trump’s envoy from 2017-2019, said that “this extremist candidate (George Simion) is a clear and present danger to democracy, freedom and prosperity. He parrots Putin’s playbook seeking to remove Romania from the European Union, NATO and its Euro-Atlantic relationship and transform it into an authoritarian state like Russia – a new Belarus.”
Simion, 38, easily won the first round with 41% of the vote and faces pro-European Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan in the second round.
The win by the Maga-friendly, far-right nationalist Simion, the frontrunner ahead of the May 18 runoff, has sent jitters through the economy with the leu tumbling from 4.97 to 5.12 for a euro since the May election despite an injection of three billion euros from the central bank to prop it up.
Romanian-born Zuckerman whose family fled Romania during communism, said that Simion “tries to cloak himself in the anti woke, anti DEI and anti globalist isolationist movement. However, this is but a thin veil to hide Putin’s authoritarian playbook designed to take control of Romania without firing a shot.”
“Romania, along with Poland, is a stalwart defender of Europe’s eastern flank against Russian aggression. It is a prime strategic target for Putin’s Russia.”
“I urge you not to be misled by this extremist. I urge you to preserve freedom, democracy and prosperity,” he said calling on Romanians to leave aside their differences and vote for Dan.
Universul.net is publishing the letter in full:
Dear Friends,
I write to you regarding the dire circumstances now facing Romania. I was born in Romania and was fortunate to escape the evils of the communist regime when, as a child, I emigrated to the United States with my family. I was given the opportunity to grow up and live in a free and democratic country. My family survived the Nazis and the Second World War, the legionnaires and the horrific Communist regime. The fall of the Iron Curtain and the revolution of 1989 was a historic liberating moment for Romania which I never thought I would ever see in my lifetime.
I subsequently returned to Romania in 2019. It was the honor of a lifetime when I gratefully accepted President Trump’s nomination to serve as the United States Ambassador to Romania—the homeland of my forefathers. Romania holds a sacred place in my heart. I have unwaveringly strived to advance its democracy, freedom, prosperity and its bilateral relationship with the United States.
Sadly, today we are facing another historic moment – the possibility of an extremist candidate winning the upcoming presidential election on May 18th and reversing all of the progress Romania has made in the last thirty five years.
This extremist candidate is a clear and present danger to democracy, freedom and prosperity. He parrots Putin’s playbook seeking to remove Romania from the European Union, NATO and its Euro-Atlantic relationship and transform it into an authoritarian state like Russia – a new Belarus.
This extremist tries to cloak himself in the anti woke, anti DEI and anti globalist isolationist movement. However, this is but a thin veil to hide Putin’s authoritarian playbook designed to take control of Romania without firing a shot. Romania, along with Poland, is a stalwart defender of Europe’s eastern flank against Russian aggression. It is a prime strategic target for Putin’s Russia in its cyber, hybrid and kinetic acts of war against virtually all European countries.
I urge you not to be misled by this extremist. I urge you to preserve freedom, democracy and prosperity. In the wake of this extremist’s higher than expected first round electoral returns, many of you started having doubts that Romania can be saved. Don’t have these doubts! Romania can be and must be saved from the abyss. Romania should not again be forced into abject poverty, humiliation and isolation. We cannot allow this to happen – we need to stand united, respect each other and continue on the path towards a better future. Too many have sacrificed too much and have given their lives for Romania’s democracy, freedom and prosperity.
Don’t argue amongst yourselves about who is to blame or why they are to blame for the extremist’s apparent success. None of you is to blame – the extremist is to blame, the Russians are to blame. The extremist will not succeed if we all unite with a single purpose – to save Romania’s freedom and democracy.
The divisive issues that separated the various political candidates from each other are now over. There is only one candidate now, Nicusor Dan, that needs your support to defeat the extremist. He needs all of your unequivocal and undivided support. We must unite behind him.
I commend those political parties that have already publicly stated their undivided and unequivocal support for Nicusor Dan. I urge those remaining non extremist political parties to also unequivocally support Nicusor Dan. I urge all Romanians, especially its political leaders, to examine their conscience and save Romania’s future. The future of your children, grandchildren and future generations are in your hands.
Do not forget that even today thirty five years after the revolution Romania has still not fully recovered from the damage of fifty years of communist rule. If the extremist is allowed to subjugate Romania to Putin’s authoritarian rule, like Belarus, it will take many generations to get rid of such rule and undo the damage. Do not pay heed to the extremist and his paid foreign and domestic influencers to steal Romania’s freedom. History will remember you and not judge kindly those Romanians who abandoned democracy in favor of extremism.
I urge you to keep hope alive, keep freedom, democracy and prosperity alive, reject extremism and support Nicusor Dan.
May God bless Romania and each and every one of you.
Amb. Adrian Zuckerman(ret)
